I love thrift, but the thrill of new stuff is too strong
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW is queen of the charity shops.
Bloodhound-like when it comes to bargains, she can sniff out nuggets of gold in among those dusty shelves full of old LPs and chipped tea sets.
I never understood when she returned, triumphant, with a haul of books or DVDs, reasoning that picking through the detritus of other people’s lives was sad, intrusive even.
But that was before she bagged a set of wine glasses for me from the British Heart Foundation shop, so spectacularly lovely that my mind was changed. Original 1970s, they are vibrantly coloured and slim stemmed and elicit admiring comments whenever I use them.
And they were 50p each.
Now I find I too have been sucked into the world of bargain hunting, pootling in and out of charity stores and wondering if I would ever really use that good-as-new soup tureen or Lloyd loom ottoman.
So the news that Oxfam has launched a drive to get even more shoppers through its doors is music to my ears.
Second Hand September hopes to encourage consumers to stop buying new clothes for 30 days and instead purchase second hand garments to gussy up their wardrobes.
This isn’t just about highlighting the fashion bargains to be found among
the rails – although I had to stop myself handing over cash for a fabulous 1940s evening dress on the grounds that it wouldn’t fit me and I wasn’t going to a debutante’s ball anytime soon.
No, this drive is about the environment and doing what we can to be a bit greener.
We all know that ‘fast fashion’ is bad for the planet. Look at the landfill groaning under the weight of old clothes while the textile industry is responsible for creating more CO2 emissions than aviation and shipping combined.
Plus – a not-sofun-fact – it takes around 1,800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to produce just one pair of jeans despite the fact they will inevitably join the 12 other pairs at the back of your wardrobe in six month’s time.
So the idea of Second Hand September is sound. The timing, however, isn’t. September, as the style mags and telly ads lose no time in telling us, is consumer central. After December it’s the mother-load when it comes to people wanting to acquire new stuff.
If it’s not school uniform or new soft furnishings ahead of the cold winter nights to come, it’s bagging a new ‘must have’ autumn wardrobe.
Out go the linen pants, cotton dresses and floppy hats and in come boots, jackets and jumpers. We might not all rush to ‘invest’ in an entirely new set of clothes the moment Strictly is back on the telly but there is most decidedly a ‘new term’ feeling in the air, which means the lure of something new is inevitable.
There’s very little in charity shops which is new, though. That’s the beauty of them.
I wish Oxfam the best of luck with the campaign drive but I fear the tyranny of buying new stuff – rather than new-to-me stuff – might just prove too hard to overcome.
I WOULD like to say a few words about what’s been happening in Parliament of late but I can’t. Not that I’m lost for words at the chaotic ineptitude among our governing classes – I actually have plenty to say.
It’s just most of it would be quite sweary and this is a family newspaper and I quite like my job.